Bottle-sealing device



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

R A HALL BOTTLE SEALING DEVICE.

No. 541,203. Pat ented June 18, 1895;

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' (No Model.)

2 Sheets-Shet 2. R. A. HALL.

1 BOTTLE SEALING DEVIGE.

Patented June 18, 1895.

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UNITED STATES PAT NT OFFICE.

ROBERT ALLISON HALL, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND.

BOTTLE-SEALING DEVICE.

5PECIFIGATION forming", part of Letters Patent No. 541,203, dated June 18, 1895.

Application filed February 28, 1894. Serial No. 501,803. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, ROBERT ALLISON HALL, of the city of Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Bottle-Sealing Devices; and I do hereby declare that the following specification, taken in connection with the drawings furnished and forming a part of the same, is a clear, true, and complete description of my invention.

My said improvements pertain to that general class of single use bottle sealing devices, which are applied within the throats of bottles, as distinguished from those of the cap type, which are applied upon, and outside of, bottle heads. Sealing devices adapted to, and intended for only a single use thereof, must of necessity be quite inexpensive, and they have been heretofore devised, and used in various forms, and they have either embodied, or have been employed with, such elastic or resilient material, as is capable of affording sealing contact with the interioror throat surfaces of bottles. In some cases, these inside or throat sealing devices have been wholly composed of such material as rubber, or cork,

and with or without connected detaching or extracting appliances, while in other cases, they have embodied metal, wood, or other solid material, and a sealing medium, such as rubber.

My said improvement involves the use with a suitable sealing medium and a suitable bottle, of a hollow plug, which is composed of metal, and is expanded within the throat of the bottle into retaining engagement therewith, and which when so applied affords an accessible shoulder for engagement by a suitable bottle opener, the metallic plugs being sufiiciently strong and rigid to not only enable them to successfully resist displacement of the sealing medium under gaseous pressures, but also to enable their shoulders to the packing medium or gasket, between the glass and a solid or rigid plaster filling.

Mymetal plugs essentially co-operate with some sort of a separate sealing medium,

whereas in said prior method, the inverted capsule was relied upon as. the sole sealing medium. y

My metal plugs cooperate with a bottle having in its throat a mere shoulder, whereas by said prior method, the inverted capsules cooperate with a throat essentially so corrugated, as to afford an extensive area or contact surface, against which the metal of the inverted capsule could be forced, with a view to forming an air tight joint.

My metal plugs, in their best form, when applied to a bottle, are internally accessible, and the expanded portions thereof afford a shoulder with which a bottle opener may ongage, whereas the inverted capsule of said prior method, was filled with a rigid plaster filling andhence was not internally accessible.

.My metallic plugs are specially adapted to ordinary bottling purposes, because of the ease wit hwhich they may be properly removed in opening bottles, whereas the stoppers of said prior method, were of necessity, excavated in fragments, and also because the complex operations involved in building up said stoppers, would practically preclude their use for ordinary bottling purposes.

My metallic plugs are in themselves complete, and are adapted to cooperate with sealing media of various forms, whether for simply confining the sealing medium to its sea or for that duty coupled with compressing the sealing mediumbetween the plug and its seat; whereas under said prior method, the inverted capsule in itself constituted the sealing medium, and it was confined in its sea-t solely by a rigid plaster filling, and in itself it could perform no retaining duty.

I am also aware that circular openings in the tops of tin cans have been heretofore closed by expanded leaden or other soft metal plugs provided with flanges, between which and the outer or top surface of the cans, ad-

volves pressure properly applied within the plug, and with one of my plugs, this operation is effected by means of a wedge acting expander, which constitutes no part of the sealing device, but is in fact, a tool for expanding many plugs. \Vith another form of my plug, the expander is within, and is an inseparable portion of the sealing device; while with still another form, a metal portion of the plug itself, is made to do duty as an expander. Other wise stated, in applying one form of plug, the expander is removed after doing its duty; in another form, the expander remains in the plug, but its mechanical function ends with its single performance of expanding duty;

while with still another form, the expander is an integral portion of the hollow metallic plug. These expanders, therefore, may be widely varied in form, construction, and mode of operation, without in any manner adecting the main features of my invention, it being only necessary that proper means he provided and employed, for stretching, attenuating or enlarging a peripheral portion of the hollow ductile metallic plug, within the throat of bottle bottle, and to thereby secure the desired degree of locking union with the bottle, in each case.

Forsecuring the prime objects of my invention, the hollow metallic plug, however it may be varied in form, is provided with a peripheral packing ring, or gasket, but it is immaterial to what extent the plug may be covered or inclosed by said gasket, provided that sufficient packing is interposed between the portion of the plug which is to be, and is expanded, and that interior annular surface of the bottle throat, at which the looking, or securing and sealing contact, is to be specially assured.

As a rule, single use throat sealing devices as heretofore devised, have required the use of bottles having a comparatively small area of opening, but with my hollow expansible metallic plugs and peripheral gaskets, reliable results can be secured regardless of the size of the opening, it being immaterial whether the gasket be first seated in the throat of the bottle and then compressed by expanding the plug, or first mounted under tension, upon the plug.

To more particularly describe my invention, 1 will refer to the accompanying drawings, of whiolr- Figure 1 illustrates in side and top view the simplest form of hollow ductile metallic plug as employed by me in accordance with.

applied to the metal plug. Fig. 4 illustrates Fig.

in section a suitable bottle-head and a combined metallic plug and gasket within the metal plug as when employed without a gasket and as a mere holder for a cork pre viously inserted intoa bottle, the latter, the

lu and the cork bein shown in section. P a s Fig. 9, in bottom view, illustrates the metal plug after appropriate portions of its periphery have been expanded for enabling it to perform simple cork-holding duty. Fig. 10, in top, side, and bottom views, illustrates another t'orm of hollow metallic plug containing an expander. Fig. 11, in top and side views, illustrates the annular gasket detached from the plug, Fig. 10. Fig. 12, in side. and

within the metal plug, Fig.'10. Fig. 13, in a sectional view, illustrates a bottle-head and the metallic plug, Fig. 10, with its gasket in position to be forced into the throat of a bottle to be secured therein. Fig. 14, in a sectional view, illustrates a bottle-head and this same form of metallic plug and gasket properly united for sealing duty. Fig. 15, in a sectional view, illustrates a bottle-head with the same metallic plug without a gasket and employed as a mere cork-holder. Fig. 16, in side view, illustrates the metallic plug in the form it has been made to assume during the setting operation within the throat of a bottle. Fig. 17, in sectional view, illus' trates still another form of my hollow metallic plug, an integral portion of which is relied upon for duty as an expander when forced inwardly. Fig. 18, in sectional view, illustrates the metallic plug, Fig.17, with a gasket and applied to a bottle for sealing duty.

As hereinbefore indicated, the main fea tures of my invention, have been variously embodied, but in each instance, the hollow ductile metallic plug is cup shaped, and in applying one forin of plug to a bottle, it is in serted with its open end downward. Another form of the plug, is inserted with an open end downward, but it has also an open upper end,

.top views, illustrates the expander employed r05 I I0 n5 and a third form, is inserted with its open end upward, and is internally accessibleto the entrance and removal of an expander, as

will be first described, in connection with Figs. 1 to 9, inclusive.

The plug A, is composed of strong but duetile sheet metal, and in its initial form, as illustrated in ,two views, in Fig. 1,it is open at its top a, and closed at its bottom I), the latter being usually slightly dished, although it may be flat without in any manneraffecting its practical value. The plug is practically cylindrical, although its sides 0, may be more or less tapered, provided, the bottom I), has-a diameter, appropriately conforming with the diameter of the throat of the bottle to which it is to be applied. The top edge or rim d, of the plug, may be substantial-1y plain, but as a rule,it is slightly flared as shown, and when desired, it may be provided with a strong, well defined flange, as indicated in dotted lines, in Fig. 1. involves no materialnovelty, similarly shaped metallic plugs, having heretofore been employed in connection with short corks, and secured within bottles, by wire or twine, applied in the usual manner,the object being to economize incorks, and the function of the plug,.being, to take up the space, between the top of a well inserted short cork, and the wiring.

When the plug A, is composed 'of a ductile and readily expansible metal, and is provided on its periphery, with an annular packing gasket 8, the resulting combination is believed to be novel, and especiallyso, when said combination is adapted to be, and is employed with a bottle affording appropriate sealing contact surfaces within its throat in such a manner, that no tying or wiring is needed, and no cork stopper is required.

In its bestform, the gasket 6, is composed of good rubber, normally quite thin, and smaller in diameter than the outside diameter of the plug A, so that when the two are comoined, the gasket will be slightly distended, and readily retained-on the plug. This gasket may be widely varied in its character, it be ing only essential to secure good packing con-- tact between the plug and the bottle, after the plug has been peripherally expanded, although the packing material should be such, as will not impart objectionable taste or odor to the contents of bottles. Such a hollow metallic plug, with its gasket, inserted into the throat of an ordinary bottle, affording a good sealing contact surface within its throat and with its plug then enlarged peripherally, so as to tightly and evenly compress the gasket, will secure a reliable sealing eflect, quite equal to that afforded by the use of good corks in the ordinary way, and even should wiring be needed therewith, in some cases, substantial economy would beinvolved in the use of the plugs, as compared with the use of corks, capable of performing equally satisfactory duty. For securing the best results however, the bottles should be specially constructed for enabling the plugs to co-operate therewith in the best possible manner, and

In its initial form, this plug hence the bottle B, within its threat a short distance below its top or lip, isprovided with an annular shoulder f, which may be widely varied as to its form, without materially affecting the results, so long as a suitable abutment is thereby afforded, with which the sealing device may be made to securely engage. An annular space belowsaid shoulder, is also provided, as at f, into which a portion of the sealing device is laterally extended, this space, and said shoulder, being here aflforded, by an annular groove in the throat of the bottle, but it will be obvious, that the abutment, and said space, would both be aiford'ed by an annular projection, as the converse of the groove. 7

It is well known, that bottles which are intentionally of one size, frequently vary in area of threat openings, as well as in the contour thereof, and hence the plug and gasket should 7 be so proportioned, that they may be freely inserted into the bottle, as shown in Fig. 4, so that the gasket 6, will be coincident with the annular shoulder f, the width of the gasket, being sufficient to afford good sealing contact with the bottle, at and adjacent to said shoulder, as clearly indicated.

\Vith the plug and its gasket in proper position, within the throat of the bottle B, as

shown in Fig. 4, a portion of the metal in the plug is peripherally stretched, attenuated, or expanded, adjacent to the gasket, as clearly indicated at g, Fig. 5, thus not only tightly compressing the gasket between the plug and the adjacent glass surface, but also securely locking both the gasket and plug against displacement under any pressures practically encountered in bottling. It is obviously immaterial in what manner the plug may have been so expanded, although the active portions of. one form of expander, are shown in a sectional View, at C, Fig. 7. Said expandercomprises a set of vibratory pendent arms, provided with properly shaped lower ends 71, annularly arranged with reference to a reciprocatory wedge h, which by being forced downwardly, will force the working portions h,outwardly, and thereby peripherallystretch ICO ing Fig. 1, with Fig. 6, this latter, in side view, 7

illustrating one of the metal plugs A, which has been properly applied to a bottle, and the latter then broken away, (and the gasket removed,) so as to leave the metal plug intact. It will now be observed, that there is, and

need be, no actual contact of the peripherally stretched portion of the metallic plug with the adjacent surfaces of the bottle, so long as the gasket has been tightly clamped into sealing contact with both the expanded portion of the plug, and the coincident surface of the bottle. In practice, the gasket will be sometimes reduced to a thin film, by the compression, but it is not liable to be ruptured, be-

cause the stretching or attenuation of the metal involves no cutting, stripping, or abrasive action with relation to the gasket.

In Fig. 5, the metal plug is shown to have been enlarged to a diameter a little greater than the diameter of the bottle throat, above the shoulder f, and, although a greater degree of expansion will sometimes be. warranted, good retaining effects, suitable for low pressures, will be secured, with the expanded plug no larger than the smallest diameter of the throat, because of the wedging' action of the heavily compressed gasket.

It will be obvious, that so far as properly locating the metal plug within a bottle is con: cerned, it will be quite immaterial, whether said location be gaged by the contact of a flange on the plug with the lip of the bottle, or by contact of the inner end of the plug, (or the edge of the gasket,) with the lower side of a groove in the throat of the bottle, or by holding the plug suspended upon an expander which is gaged as to its working position, by the lip of the bottle. I

It will be seen that the enlargement of the metal plug at g, affords within the plug, an accessible annular groove 1', and that the up per side of said groove, atfordsa suitable shoulder with which the tip of an ice pick, or a screw driver, or any suitable bottle opening device may engage, after the manner of a lever, for wrenching the plug from the bottle, as illustrated in dotted lines in Fig. 5. The presence of the gasket at the expanded portion of the metallic plug which affords the accessible shoulder, enables a bottle opener to so indent the metal as to assure a reliable engagement therewith.

If the rim of the plug be provided with a flange, as hereinbefore indicated,-and as shown in dotted lines, in Fig. 1, said flange (the plug being composed of strong metal) may be relied upon for engagement by a forked bottle opener, capable of operating as a lever, for tilting and wrenching the plug from its sealing position.

As hereinbefore indicated, the combination with a bottle, of a suitable sealing medium, and a hollow metallic plug expanded within the throat of the bottle, as described, constitutes a feature of my invention, regardless of the particular characteror arrangement of the resilient matter which affords the sealing elfect or tight closure; as for instance, when the plug is employed as shown in Fig. 8, wherein the bottle B, is as before described, as well as the plug A, except that the latter is here expanded to a slightly greater degree, and made to slightly engage with the shoulder f, and thereby enabled to secure an ordinary short cork k, in its proper position, the cork in this instance, being in sealing contact with the coincident sealing contact surface, within the throat of the bottle. The expansion of the plug when so used, should be just enough to secure a delicate abutment against the shoulder f, and said abutment being annular, will enable the plug to successfully resist dis 15 placement under heavy pressure operating in a right line, and at the same time, admit of its being readily displaced under a tilting strain, as when an opener is applied thereto. When the plugs are solely intended for such It: 1 cork holding or retaining duty, it will oftd'i be desirable to peripherally expand the plug at say two or more difierent points, as illils-, trated in the plug A, Fig. 9, at g, g and g, all of which, when in abutting engagement with a shoulder f, will afford ample cork w taining capacity, and the plug will be readily detachable than when fully expanded". It will be obvious, that the peripheral as; largement of a hollow metallic plug operating as a controller of thesealing medium within the throat of a bottle, involves the applicatidil of a principle, which is not restricted to-th. use of an expander, which after perform"! itsduty is removed from the plug, inasninc asthe relations of the plug, the gasket or other sealing medium and the bottle, are in no manner affected by the removal of the ei pander, and hence the same principle is in: volved, when, as in one form of my men! plug, the expander, after performing its may; remains within the plug, as illustrated in Figs. 10 to 16, inclusive. This plug A, is composed of strong ductile metal, as alread described, and it is hollow, and cup shapegi but its open end is inserted within the bottle throat, and its closed end, is provided with an enlargement or flange l, which aflordsi shoulder, with which a bottle opener may reliably engage. The top a, of the plug, is normally arched, as shown in Figs. 10 and 131 The barrel (or sides) 0', of the p'lug,likethecof responding portion of the plug A, isprovidod with a gasket e, but the seat for the gasket, is concaved, the diametrical dimensions of this portion of the plug and the gasket, enabliu it to freely enter the throat of the bottle, an then it requires only, that it be expanded peripherally adjacent .to the gasket, for causing it to operate in like manner as already described. Within the metal plug, there is an expander O, which is inclosed therein during the formation of the plug. This expander may be composed of wood, or any other material which will enable it to act as a cylin drical wedge, capable of stretching the metal, and expanding the plug adjacent to the gasket. The top of this expander, is normally closely adjacent to, or in contact with, the inner surface of the arched topa', while its. lower end, is in contact with, or closely din"- braced by the metal plug, at or'slightly abovethe portion thereof which is to be first expanded. As a rule, an expander for this par ticular form of plug, should have inclined sides, as shown, but it will be obvious, that a straight sided expander, sufficiently larger in diameter, than the smallest internal diameter of the plug, will act in like manner as an expanding wedge, when forced inwardly as described. \Vhen this plug A is so inserted that it bears at its flange Z, upon the lip of a bottle B, the latter being as already described, pressure is, applied to the arched top of the cap, sufiici'ently to flatten, or centrally depress it, as shown in Fig. 14, thus forcing the expander C downwardly, and causing the metal plug adjacent to the gasket to be peripherally expanded to such an extent, that the co-operative relations of the metal plug, the gasket, and the bottle, are established in like manner, as with the plug A, before the expander O, has been removed. The edge of the metal plug A not being reinforced, (as it is in the plug A by the portion of metal at the closed end,) is, with some kinds of metal, liable to slightly split, but this does not materially affect the throat sealing operation of the device, and said liability, can, if desired, be wholly obviated, by initially corrugating said edge to a slight degree. The change in the form of the metal plug A due to the expanding or setting operation, will be fairly indicated by comparing the plug, Fig. 10, with the expanded plug, Fig. 16, said change being quite as radical, as with the plug A,as shown in Figs. 1 and 6.

It will be readily seen, that the presence of the expander C, after it has performed its duty, is quite immaterial, as it has no further mechanical function; and that it does not operate obstructively during the extraction of the plug, by strain applied to the flange, because the tilting of the plug, causes a portion of the metal which has been expanded, to readily retire, at the initially lifted side. This cylindrical expander snugly occupying the plug, will, however, serve to prevent liquid from entering the plug, and restrict inetallic exposure to the bottled liquid to that small portion of the plug which extends below the expander and gasket.

Having thus described a hollow metal plug containing no means for expanding it, and another containing an inclosed expander, I

will next describe another form of my plugs,

wherein a portion of the plug itself, may be made to perform duty as an expander, as illustrated in Figs. 17 and 18. This plug A has an exterior contour at its sides, which quite closely conforms to that of the plug A and it is provided with a similar gasket e. Instead however, of having an arched top, this plug is deeply recessed, or introverted at the top, thus forming an interior portion, which is as readily accessible, externally, as the corre-' sponding portion of the plug A. The flange or top edge of this plug A is initially quite fully rounded, as at m, thus affording ample metal for permitting the introverted portion, m, to be still further forced inwardly, for

causing it to operate as an expander for that portion of the plug, which is encircled by the gasket.

It will be readily seen, that thisplug A may have its introverted portion m, forced inwardly by means of direct pressure, as by.

way of a cylindrical block n, Fig. 18, after which said block can either remain, or be re-. moved. So also can this plug be expanded, by

means of the tool expander C, Fig. 7, operating notonly to afford direct pressure, butalso with the lateral expanding pressure, as when setting the plugA, it being obvious, that in either case, the gasket e, will be expanded, and tightly compressed between the expanded portion of the plug, and the adjacent surface of the glass. This plug A is readily detachable by means of any lever acting opener, applied to the flange, and when the plug is set by a tool expander C, an internal shoulder will be afforded, for engagement With an opening device, as with the plug A.

It will be seen that in each instance, the hollow plugs have an accessible shoulderfor engagement by a bottle opener, and that they can be removed substantially intact, whether said plug has a flange or projection which overlies the lip of the bottle, or the interior shoulder which is afforded by the'enlargement of the periphery of the plug, as in thebest 'embodiment of my invention;

Although each of theseseveral forms of my metal plug, involves in the effective combination with gaskets and bottles, a peripheral enlargement of the plug Within the bottle, and a corresponding enlargement and annular compression of the gasket, it will be obvious that the simplest form first described, should be relied upon for securing thegreatest degree of economy, as well as the very best sealing effects.

The metal of which the plugs are composed, need only be sufficiently thin and ductile, to admit of its being readily attenuated or stretched to the desired degree for securing requisite expansion in each case, and of sufficient strength to thereafter enable the plug to reliably perform its proper looking or holding duty, while admitting of reasonable freedom in extracting the plug, and therefore I do not restrict myself to the use of any particular metal, but .it is to be understood that well selected tin plate, will ordinarily serve my purposes, and that its use will afford that degree of economy, which is usually desirable in the production of single use bottle sealing devices.

The contact of bottled liquids, with certain -fine, or shellac, for avoiding corrosive action and preventing impairment of the liquids. I have produced plugs composed of aluminum, and of course they do not require any special coating, as a rule, and the same would be true of plugs composed of other metal, electro plated with silver.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent 1. The combination substantially as hereinbefore described, of a suitable bottle having a throat atfording a sealing contact surface, a hollow ductile metallic plug having a portion of its periphery expanded within the throat of the bottle, and having an accessible shoulder for engagement by a bottle opener, and a sealing medium, which is in contact with said sealing contactsurface and is securely maintained in its sealing position by said plug.

2. Thecombiuation substantially as hereinbefore described of a suitable bottle, a hollow ductile metallic plug which has a portion of its periphery expanded within the throat of the bottle and has an accessible shoulder for engagement by a bottle opener, and agasket which is interposed between the metallic plug and the bottle, and is compressed and maintained in its sealing position by said plug.

3. A bottle sealing device embodying in combiuation, a hollow plug composed of strong 4. Thecombination substantiallyashereinbefore described, of a bottle having in its throat an annular shoulder, an annular packing or gasket, and a hollow ductile metallic plug, peripherally expanded as described adjacent to said gasket and shoulder, and there by not only compressing the gasket into sealing contact between the plug and bottle, but also securing the plug and gasket against displacementunder internal pressure, and also affording within the plug an accessible shoulder for engagement by a bottle opener.

ROBERT ALLISON HALL.

W'itnesses:

ALBERT A. CARPER, CHARLES H. MILES. 

